Resource information
MENA felt the impact of the financial
and economic crisis to a much lesser extent than developed
economies and emerging markets outside Asia, however, the
economic recovery in MENA has also lacked vigor. Before the
recent uprisings, MENA was expected to return to pre-crisis
growth rates of 4.8 percent by 2011-12, but growth rates in
this range are not high enough to address the key challenges
facing the region, including high unemployment rates -
especially for young people and low labor-force
participation rates, notably for women. The region also has
one of the world's lowest formal employment rates as
well as the highest population and labor force growth rates
among middle-income economies. To address these challenges
MENA's economy should be growing at rates close to
those observed in East Asia and other high performing
emerging economies. It has not done so.
